Ball-and-socket joint.



" A. ZKHRINGER;

BALL AND SOCKET JOINT. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 3, 1910.

Lfi wfisi Pafiented Nov. 25, 1913.

yfllgfis I INJERJTURIII subject ofthe Emperor UNITED STATES: PATENT o FIQE-T ARNOLD ZAH IN ER, orsTU'iTGART, GERMANY, nssrsnon TO THE F nn or- ROBERT BOSCH, STUTTGART, GERMANY,

To all it may concern Be it'known that I, ARNOLD ZZirIRINGE a of Germany, residing at Stuttgart, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ball-and-Socket lToints'; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to' which it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relatesto a ball and socket joint especially, adapted to connect adrawrod with the adjusting lever of a mechanical interrupter of an electric sp-a-rking'machine' Fig. 3

for the ignition of'combustion engines.

The improvement consists in holding the ball-end portion of the joint in place by;

balls which are freelyrotatable in all directions in radial assages in the socket and which are pressed inwardly against the ballend by a spring.

Int-he accompanying drawing illustrating the preferred embodiment of my invention, Figures-1 is a longitudinal section through the ball and socket joint. Fig. 2 is a sec.-.

tion on the line 22 of Fig-:1, with the ball-end of the interrupter dever removed.

shows in outline the capsule containthe adjustment, and the joint connecting the two.

The socket a is providedwith a projection '6 for attachment to the draw-rod 0. The socket has a ball-shaped recess, which receives the ball-end d of theinterrupter lever. At the periphery of the socket a, I have shown three radial passages 6 each having a' gradually decreasing bore inwardly; however I may provide one or anyother convenient number of passages and any passage. In each of the three passages 6 lies a small ball f whose diameter is such that the ball is ball and socket freely rotatable in all directions, but" cannot pass through the narrower part into the interior of the socket. At the outer periphery of the socket a fiat groove 9 is reamed out in the plane of'thepassages e, and preferably all around the socket excepting at the point it. In this annular groove is laid a plate spring 2' bent in the form of a ring so as to press the balls f inwardly against the mg the interrupter, the draw-rod used for Specification of Letters .Patent.

1 ball-end These'balls Patented Nam-25,1913.

Application filed necemberfi, 1919, serial No. 595,373.

Furthermore -the friction at the joint-because they rotate freely and therefore roll upon'the ball-endhbf the interrupter lever when the draw-rod is. moved. It is possible to make the assages of constant bore throughout, as the balls will be retained therein by the springon onelside and by the ball-end of the joint on the-other, but then theballs have to' be inserted after the ball-end d is in place. Also, I may modify the form of the'spring shown, and may provide aspring for each will be readily understood.

Having thus described my invention,what I I claim 1s: I

,1. TAf readily disengageable ball and socket joint,"comprising.a ball end, a socket for the ball end having a radial passage of de- '-creasing bore toward the ball end and a'rranged beyond the maximum diameter'of passage, as

theball end when the latter is in place in the,s'6cket,a ball in said passage havin'ga diameter less than t-he outer. diameter of the bore and greater than the inner diameter of the bore, and a spring pressing the ball "against the ball end so as to hold the latter in place in the socket in such mann r as to.

allow disengagement thereof fro socket; substantially as described.

2. A readily disengageable ball and socket joint, comprising a ball end, a socket for the ball end, having a plurality. of radial passages of decreasing bore toward the ball end and arranged beyond the maximum di ameter of the bell end, a ball in each of said passages having a diameter less than the outer diameter of the bore and greater than the inner diameter of the bore, and a' plate spring of ring form pressing all the balls agahlst the ball end so as to hold the latter in place inthe' socket in such manner as to fillOW'llllB disengagement thereof from-the socket; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.-

ARNOLD ZAHRINGER. 

